Monday

Leggat McCall Properties was selected from a pool of seven bidders to redevelop the 22-story, 600,000-square-foot EJ Sullivan Courthouse in East Cambridge, the state announced Friday, Dec. 14.

Leggat McCall Properties was selected from a pool of seven bidders to redevelop the 22-story, 600,000-square-foot EJ Sullivan Courthouse in East Cambridge, the state announced Friday, Dec. 14.

Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) Commissioner Carole Cornelison said the state chose the Boston-based developer because they maximized the return to residents across the state.

“The developer has the capacity to handle a project of this magnitude and a very capable development team. They have the financial capacity and strength to complete this redevelopment program,” Cornelison said, adding one of the factors was also “the purchase price to the commonwealth.”

Cornelison said she can’t release the price at this time because the state has yet to work out a purchase and sale agreement with the developer, a contract she said would be negotiated in the coming weeks. At around noontime on Dec. 17, Leggat McCall CEO Eric Sheffels told the Chronicle he had only received a letter from the state real estate agency informing him the company won the bid.

Cornelison said another factor in selecting Leggat McCall was the “extent and nature of the jobs they plan to create throughout this project.”

In June, representatives from Leggat McCall presented a plan at an East Cambridge Planning Team meeting for an office building with ground-floor retail at the site. Sheffels said he would comment on the project specifics after speaking with representatives from DCAM later on Monday, Dec. 17, but declined to say whether or not the plan had changed since it was last presented in public.

East Cambridge Planning Team President Barbara Broussard said she had not yet received any positive feedback about the decision from residents. The community organization and activism group’s first choice was HYM, the North Point developer who proposed knocking down several stories and creating a mixed-use development with some housing, office and retail. Broussard said the team “would have been happy” with DivCo, the third of seven selected to submit a second round of bids to the state. DivCo presented a plan for office and retail, but expressed openness to some residential development.

“I sent out notice on Friday (Dec. 14) that Leggat McCall won bid from the state, and I have not received any positive feedback from those who have sent me an email so far,” Broussard said. “There are people who want to get a position and ask the state to reconsider because they’re very upset, and they feel like they’ve been had.”

The East Cambridge Planning Team held several meetings throughout the winter and spring with developers to listen to and gauge their plans. The group then voted in the summer on the developer they felt was best suited to the site, and Broussard sent a letter to the state with their decision in September.

“The state came in and said, ‘Oh, we’re going to listen to you, but they didn’t do any of that,” Broussard said. “What we did not want was a completely commercial building.”

A representative from DCAM said the three finalists had been selected based on the project’s stated goals: maximizing financial returns for the commonwealth, providing a vision and financial commitment to redevelop the property, as well as improve and maintain the 1.37-acre site, create a quality public-use area around the building, return the property to productive use and maximize job creation.

Cornelison said the next step would be to negotiate a purchase and sale agreement with Leggat McCall and then the developer would begin to deal directly with the city’s zoning and planning processes. Cornelison said the state was anxious to see a new use for the site.

“It’s not an appropriate building with the current use to be in the middle of the community,” Cornelison said. “We’ve had discussions with the community, and the community too is anxious for the site to be redeveloped.”

Check back in with the Chronicle at wickedlocal.com/cambridge for updates on this developing story. Contact assistant editor Erin Baldassari at ebaldassari@wickedlocal.com or 617-629-3390, and follow her on Twitter: @e_baldi.